New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $24.54 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 266,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,316 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Paychex were worth $24,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,750,669,000 after buying an additional 4,583,157 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA lifted its stake in Paychex by 125.2% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 40,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,545,000 after acquiring an additional 22,527 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its position in Paychex by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 79,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,942,000 after acquiring an additional 11,805 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its position in Paychex by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 121,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,653,000 after acquiring an additional 11,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 205,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $23,035,000 after purchasing an additional 25,184 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total value of $383,862.75. Following the sale, the director directly owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,513. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Argus upgraded Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Paychex to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup upgraded Paychex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.80.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $106.35 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.45 and a 12 month high of $148.11. The firm has a market cap of $38.10 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $96.60 and a 200-day moving average of $98.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a $1.19 dividend. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 97.34%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.